Prep News

Welcome to all Prep students and their families, 

The Prep team are so proud of how seamlessly all of the Prep students transitioned into their first week of school and we are thrilled to have them as part of our Saltwater College community. 

If this is your first child to commence school, please be assured they are in very good hands! We look forward to a very exciting and productive year in Prep and are eager to introduce our new staff members within the Prep team: Sarah Mason (PB classroom teacher), Michelle Daly (PC classroom teacher), and Lynette Taylor (PE classroom teacher). Montana Vunderl-Messis (PA classroom teacher), Danielle Brown (PD classroom teacher), Rebecca Longley (PF classroom teacher), Lucy Mackintosh (PG classroom teacher), Tina Missaghi (PH classroom teacher), Abby D’Souza (PI classroom teacher) and Ritu Vazirani (PJ classroom teacher) make up the remainder of the team.   

We are looking forward to an action-packed, fun-filled year of learning and growth with all of the Prep students.

Over the next few weeks, the students will engage in developmental play when they enter the classroom each morning, which helps develop the fundamentals for their cognitive, physical, social and emotional growth. It also provides students with opportunities to take turns, make friends, communicate and be creative. The students have had lots of fun this week engaging with the different activities each morning, including Lego, puzzles, beading and construction tools. The students are encouraged to engage with texts from their classroom library and a writing table allows students to express their thoughts and ideas through drawing and/or pictures. 

During this time the teachers are developing relationships with the students, supporting them and scaffolding students’ play by asking questions and prompting them to use their problem-solving skills to find solutions.

In Literacy we have been learning about the concepts of print such as: how to hold a book, where to start when reading, which way to turn a page and what an author and illustrator is. After reading the mentor text, ‘Where is the Green Sheep?’ the students conducted a school tour to become familiar with the key areas of the school, such as the toilets, canteen, front office, sick bay, gym and the Principal’s office. We were so proud of the students efforts in sharing their thoughts after this language experience, where they were encouraged to draw and write about what they saw. A big part of Prep is learning High Frequency words and this week we begun our first investigation into the words ‘I’ and ‘am’.

In Mathematics, the Prep students have been learning about the maths resources available to them within their classroom and how to take care of these resources. They spent time exploring and sharing their knowledge of number by using hands on materials to represent numbers in different ways. It is fantastic to see students bring their prior knowledge of mathematics into the classroom as we begin to explore where we see and how we use numbers all around us in our everyday world.

While completing the ‘First 20 Days of School’ program, the students will continue to work collaboratively within their classes to construct essential agreements underpinning the rules and expectations around student engagement, which will build the foundation for a safe and supportive community.

The Prep team are looking forward to developing positive partnerships with the students families and encourage open communication to ensure we all have the students best interests at the forefront of our minds. The teachers have an open-door policy and will provide communication via our school’s communication portal, Schoolbox. If you are yet to receive your login details, please be assured this will be sent home shortly. 

We thank you for your support in creating a positive transition to school as we work together to make the students first year at school and memorable experience!

Kind Regards

The Prep Team

REMINDERS:

• Students are expected to bring their satchel to school EVERY DAY – If your child has not received one, please speak to your classroom teacher.
• There is no school for the Prep students every Wednesday during February as mandated assessment is conducted on these days.
• Please ensure all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their first and last names.
• Hats are to be worn when outside for the whole of Term One. Please ensure to put sunscreen on your child before arriving at school.
• If you have not yet taken your child’s iPad to be configured, please do so as soon as possible. Students will begin using their iPads in Week 5.
• Snack and lunch times are 15 minutes long. Please encourage your child to eat snack/lunch within 15 minutes as this will help them to follow school routine.